From: Second ArtsI complain because I loveQuote from the site - Harper’s comment about the increasingly dour tone of this blog in recent weeks has had me reflecting on why I would be going in this direction. I think I’ve come up with a couple notions.

From: Intro to Networked CollaborationSecond Life ExperienceQuote from the site - I had never been on Second Life so this experience was my first time. It was a lot of fun, though at times VERY frustrating. Everything was pretty well organized, however, I would find myself clicking buttons and then not being able to find my way back. For example, I took my shirt off to see what would happen.

From: LA Times‘The Making of Second Life’ by Wagner James Au and ‘Second Lives’Quote from the site - For a brief and extraordinarily peculiar 10 minutes, I was a member of Second Life. Like all newbies, after downloading the hefty software, I was directed to an orientation area, where I chose an “in-world” name and an avatar. Stumbling through a garden where everyone was speaking Italian, I came upon a male avatar, who introduced himself, then asked my age.

From: TBOCreator Of Virtual Sex Toy Settles Lawsuit In Theft CaseQuote from the site - A lawsuit between made-up characters in a virtual online world has been settled in real-life federal court. The suit, brought by the maker of a virtual sex toy, was thought to be the first involving copyright and trademark laws in virtual reality.

From: Dusan Writer’s Metaverse7 Days in Second Life: Highlights of the WeekQuote from the site - Quick summary of how I saw Second Life this week. 7 days. 2 RL client meetings (each terminated mid-way). One class (canceled mid-way). Numerous attempts to support buyers of in-world houses.

From: Dusan Writer’s MetaverseThe Story Box: Second Life & MagicQuote from the site - The new CEO of Linden Labs will have no shortage of advice, but I’ve been struck with the notion recently that in all my thinking about content theft, lag and crashes, 3D cameras and other gizmos, that I’ve found myself saying one too many times “now, practically speaking”, which is a watch word for adult talk and serious nodding and probably the writing of a memo.

From: EDNFirst Life: Thankfully Funded By MicrosoftQuote from the site - I was admittedly cynical in my recent Second Life coverage. To be abundantly clear, what I wrote fully represented my personal belief on the subject; I didn’t over-dramatize my opinions in order to drive blog traffic, or for any other reason. The core of my concern about virtual worlds, in case it wasn’t already clear to you after reading my thoughts, is the profound detachment from the real world that Second Life and its ilk encourage.

From: Ambling in Second LifeTelstra Experience CentreQuote from the site - Now, for a bit of a change - an Australian sim. While exploring far out in the Western Oceans of Second Life, I espied this sim, and grabbed the opportunity for a visit. It is actually one of a pair, the other still being closed to visitors. Although, in my view, this sim is not really ready for visitors either. But more of that anon.

From: Educause ConnectAuthentic Critical Reflection: Critique_It in Second LifeQuote from the site - Critique_It is an online virtual classroom critique system originally developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Croquet and ported to Second Life. The critique is a rudimentary instructional methodology in the arts that can be applied to most other disciplines.

From: Second Life BlogLoading IssuesQuote from the site - There are currently issues with in-world transactions, teleporting and related activity. We are working to address the issues as quickly as possible. Please refrain from transactions as necessary and keep an eye on this blog for further information.

From: Second Life Blog[RESOLVED] Short Region Outages PlannedQuote from the site - Further to the work carried out in late February to move some of our simulator nodes to new IP addresses, we now need to change the IP addresses for parts of our network infrastructure.

From: Fabulously Free in SLFirst Post from Fab Belle: Cover Girl and ETDQuote from the site - I’m the newest member of the Fab Free gang - FAB BELLE - better known in world as Belle Lefavre. Here are a few freebies (since I know that’s what you really want) and if you hang around I’ll tell you a little about myself too!